Invisible Child
by fwuzzfwuzz
Summary: A horrible crime has left Adam in a coma. The team is left to unravel the mystery of what happened. Now strange things are happening that the team can't explain. Who is this little boy and what does he have to do with Adam?
1. Chapter 1

"He's in a coma. We lost him for a little bit there but we're able to bring him back. The time that he will wake from a coma is undetermined." The doctors spoke slowly and Mac narrowed his eyes at this.

"What are you not saying?"

Gleaming white floors and harsh fluorescent lights lined every hallway. Mac forced himself to concentrate of the young doctor who seemed to emanate nervousness.

"Well, judging by the CT scans that we did there's a likelihood that he may never wake up. It doesn't seem like he is there at all. If he does wake up, he may not be the same."

Mac exhaled sharply, "Do you see any chance for a full recovery?"

The doctor shifted uneasily, "If there is it would have to be an act of God."

There was never a heavier weight to be felt than when those words exited the doctor's mouth. How would he explain this to everyone when he couldn't fathom this himself?

He had flashes of Adam bloody and unconscious on the floor and the apartment in complete shambles.

Mac nodded, "Thank you for your time doctor."

This was not how he wanted to end this day or start it judging from the time. He watched as the doctor walked away and turned to see half his team down the hallway.

The anger lied stagnant in the air. They were all angry; it was easier to be angry. Once their anger was gone than the worst of it would start.

Stella took one look at his face, being the most familiar with his expressions, she looked away quickly. She knew that face carried no good news. Mac approached them and Danny straightened giving him an appraising look.

"How's he doin'?" He asked. His voice was gravelly from lack of sleep. They had processed the scene and then came straight here. None of them had spoken as they waited for the inevitable bad news. When they had found him he was very close to death.

Flack and Hawkes were there as well looking at Mac expectantly. Mac sighed for the millionth time.

"The doctor is not optimistic. Adam is in a coma right now and they don't know if he'll ever wake up."

A ripple effect of expressions waved through their faces. Danny was the first to react verbally but pretty much summed up what everyone was feeling.

He hit the wall with his fist, "Dammit, how the hell did this happen?"

Flack grumbled in agreement, "I asked the neighbors. No one has seen or heard anything."

"But there was enough struggle and certainly enough trauma to cause some noise." Stella added, her voice faltering on the word trauma.

Flashes of blood on the wall, all over the floor pointed to a slow and torturous journey to unconsciousness. His was place torn apart from top to bottom. Whoever came to him wanted something and Adam was determined not give them anything.

"Well, we're not helping him much here. Let's solve this case – it's top priority." Mac said resolutely hoping to have something to focus on other than the dire news that Adam wouldn't be Adam anymore.

He watched his team slowly trudge out. Stella squeezed his shoulder hoping to reassure him. The strong front did not fool her at all. He waited for them to go and leaned against the wall. Adam was the obvious favorite in the lab to Mac. It was painful to see the usually animated young man completely lifeless.

Mac took one last look down the hallway and started. A young boy stood alone, his head tilted, looking straight at Mac. And a few seconds he just vanished.

"Is everything alright?" He turned around to see a brunette, slightly overweight nurse examining him with concern. His team had seemed to rush away.

"Yes, just lack of sleep is catching up to me." He smiled tiredly at her and the nurse nodded and bustled away.

He made a turn and then nearly yelled allowed. The young boy who was down the hallway now stood in front of him. He looked up at Mac with big blue eyes.

"Hey Mister Mac, I'm lost can you help me?" He said tentatively as if Mac would say no.

"How do you know my name?" Was the question he asked out loud but his mind was frantically trying to make sense of all this.

"Well, duh, I see you like nearly every single day. I bet I've seen you like a bazillion times." He said flailing his arms out wide.

"Well, kid, I don't think I remember you." Mac said honestly. He wondered how the kid had gotten in the ICU, he seemed just fine. They usually didn't let kids in here.

"You don't remember me?" His eyes got even wider and water started to pool in them as his face started to turn red.

"Wait, wait, it's okay, shhh, maybe if I had a little help I might remember. I'm old and sometimes I forget stuff. What's your name?" He said smiling encouraging.

"Adam Ross, sir." The boy said without batting an eyelash.

Mac staggered back. He was going crazy, there's no other explanation. He just needed to get some sleep and this would all go back to normal. Well as normal as any day of having one of his team in a coma.

The boy sighed despondently, "You're no help. I'll never get home if you don't even remember me. See you mister Mac." The boy disappeared right in front of Mac's eyes once more.

Mac rubbed his eyes in disbelief. _What the hell just happened?! _

"The blood spatter here tells us that this is probably where they started. They must've gone in a circle because this book is on this blood spot and there seems to be blood all over it." Lindsay was holding a flashlight trying to be objective as they tried to retrace the route of the violence.

"Well if they started here first then we can assume that the victim was pushed over this table and landed here next." Danny muttered as he walked around the table to another patch of blood and broken glass from the table.

"Then he was lifted from the ground and it seems to be pushed up against the wall and I assume that knife on the floor was applied to the victim's throat and then the knife was thrown down." Lindsay added pointing her light at the bloody knife. That knife had caused the most damage – Adam's severed throat along with his massive head injury was the most critical.

"After that he seems to have been dragged to the coffee table and thrown to the floor right next to it. They must've used this paperweight to knock him out completely." Danny said pointing at the strange looking Spock bust.

"So the victim's throat was slit and he was left unconscious on the floor. He obviously could no longer help or had already helped enough. Seeing as every book seemed to be open and searched – I'm going to guess that the victim didn't tell the suspect what he wanted to know."

"Right and whatever they were looking for was small enough to fit in a book." Danny furrowed his eyebrows. He felt the urge to pick up all the books and place them back in their right order. Adam would go crazy to see everything out of place.

"Danny, focus on the case. We can focus on everything else once this is solved." Lindsay said but knowing it was fruitless. She could hardly say victim without feeling like she was going to cry.

Danny cleared his throat, "Right. Adam seemed to have a guest before all this happened. See the food from the table. That looks like it was meant for two. Maybe this guest is our perp."

"Or our anonymous 911 caller." Lindsay added still confused on who called it in. Danny walked to the front door and leaned closely to the door frame.

"You might be right. There is sign of forced entry. Where did the 911 call come from?"

"They said the payphone right out front." Lindsay said with mild frustration.

"Let me guess, too many fingerprints to get any conclusive data?"

"Worse, handset was completely wiped clean."

Danny closed his eyes in irritation. It seemed that they hit dead end after dead end.

Danny felt a soft brush on his shoulder and opened his eyes. Lindsay was looking at him sympathetically.

"I'm going downstairs to get my kit. I'll be right back." Danny nodded and watched her disappear past the door frame. He sat on the uncluttered part of the couch.

Suddenly a young boy appeared right next to him. Danny swore violently and flinched away. The young boy turned to him and looked at him curiously.

"Do you think you can turn on the TV? It's so boring here." The boy asked with a slight pout.

"How'd you get in here?" Danny asked avoiding the question "How did you appear from nowhere?"

"I live here. It's really messy and I tried and I tried to fix it but I just can't. I want to watch TV now though, I'm tired of cleaning." The boy complained sullenly.

"Adam never said anything about having a kid." Danny said more to himself than to the boy.

The kid glared at him, "You're just like Mister Mac. You don't remember me at all. _I am Adam_."

"Adam is a 28 year old man who is currently in a coma. You are a ten year old boy who seems to be some weird figment of my imagination."

"First of all, I'm eleven. Second of all I don't know why I'm here – I just know that they wouldn't stop hurting me so I left." The boy said shrugging.

"_Left?"_ Danny repeated incredulously. The younger version of Adam crossed his arms and glared vacantly forward.

"Wait, do you know who was hurting you?" Danny thought asking the weird apparition – maybe his subconscious was trying to tell him something.

The boy's eyes started watering, "They wouldn't stop. It was over and over again. They hurt me even though I was big. Mommy always told me when I was big no one could hurt me anymore. Why did they do this to me?" He looked at him his breath hitching.

Danny flinched at the wide innocent eyes, "I don't know but maybe you can tell me who did it and I can find them."

"I don't wanna think bout it. I just want to watch TV and make it all go away!" The boy answered stubbornly but still seemed on the verge of crying.

"I can help you." He insisted.

The lights flickered violently.

"I don't want help. I just want to forget!" The boy sobbed and then abruptly disappeared.

Danny stood up and looked around curiously. He was breathing hard and felt his heart beating quickly. Was that real or was it just his mind playing tricks on him? The boy, Adam, kept on saying "they". Was there a possibility that there was more than one?

Was he really going to take this seriously? He never believed in ghost or spirits but this just seemed so real.

"Everything okay?" Lindsay asked looking at him with concern. Danny took a deep breath.

"Yeah, yeah – everything's fine. Let's collect the evidence and get out of here."

Lindsay gave him a strange look due to his anxiousness in his voice but chose to ignore it.

"I was wonderin' how long it'd take ya pigs to drag me in to blame me for somethin' I didn't do." A seed looky man sat in the interrogation room of the local precinct. He was balding, and almost emaciated-looking. He looked like a drug addict and had an extremely violent rap sheet.

The most important face is that he lived right across the hall from Adam.

"Stop with the complaining, just answer the question." Flack sneered.

"I didn't do nothin'. The kid was quiet and he didn't bother nobody. Why would I want to hurt the first decent neighbor I've had in years. The only problem he had was he was livin' in the wrong side of the tracks."

"And you didn't hear anything coming from Adam's apartment?"

"Well this ear don't work too good and I was sleeping. Course I didn't hear anything."

Flack sigh and rubbed his face tiredly. He hadn't slept in at least 30 hours and every single neighbor was absolutely unhelpful. He would've dragged Adam to his spare room if he'd known how horrible his living conditions were.

"Can I go now?"

Flack signaled the mirror, "Yeah, get him outta here."

Flack slumped in the hard plastic chair and Mac entered. "What do you think?"

"I think there's something going on but I can't place my finger on it. Any news on Adam?"

Mac shook his head, "There was a spike in his heart rate about an hour ago but other than that he's still in a coma."

"Have Danny and Lindsay found anything?" Flack was sick of this case even though it just started.

"I haven't spoken with them yet. You want to head on to the lab with me. It doesn't look like we're going to get any more information here."

Flack nodded and regarded Mac for a second. There was something off about him but he couldn't quite place it.

Mac walked ahead and Flack stopped. He'd forgotten his keys in the interrogation room.

"Mac, I'll catch up with you. Need to grab my keys."

Mac nodded absently. He seemed to be thinking hard and Flack rushed off to the interrogation room. When he entered he stopped suddenly. Some kid was messing around in the interrogation room.

"Hey kid, get out of here. You shouldn't be playing in here." Flack said attempting to shoo the kid out.

The kid stared at him with haunted eyes, "I don't like that man."

His curiosity peaked "What man?"

"The scarecrow man. I don't like him." The kid said and tears started to trickle down his face.

"Hey it's alright, he's not coming back."

"No, he always comes back. He knows everything." He boy said in an assured tone.

Flack raised an eyebrow, "Whose kid are you? This isn't a place for kids – it's dangerous."

The boy sighed sadly, "I'm nobody's kid. Nobody remembers me and I'm tired of hurting." The boy's neck started to bleed and before Flack could yell out the boy disappeared.


	2. Chapter 2

Flack was silent when he entered the lab beside Mac. Mac did not question him due to the fact Mac was never a man of many words. Also, they both seemed to be deep in thought.

Flack furiously tried to reason away the boy who appeared in the interrogation room. As much as he tried to reason away he knew what he saw. He knew he wasn't crazy. Flacks don't go crazy, they get angry, and they solve things.

What scared him the most was what that boy said about the man, Jack Miller. Did this Jack Miller have more to the story then they originally thought.

Flack shook his head, was he really taking this ghost boy seriously? Maybe he'd be the first Flack in the loony bin.

"Don?"

Flack looked up and saw that he was in the lab and Stella was in front of him. She was looking at him searchingly.

Flack gave her an apologetic look, "Sorry, tired. What's going on?"

"Hawkes is heading to the apartment. We think we found a surveillance camera on a convenience store shop. We might be able to pull footage on that payphone."

"Finally, some good news." Flack sighed with relief. It seemed that everyone was steeling themselves for the worst.

"Do you have any updates from what Danny and Lindsay collected from the scene?" Mac inquired.

"Nothing incriminating. They're running more tests on the knife but it seems that these guys were pretty careful."

Mac sighed, "Have them keep on it." With that he left Flack and Stella in the hallway.

"This case seems to be hitting him pretty hard" Flack observed and Stella raised an eyebrow.

"I think it's hitting everyone hard. Lindsay said Danny was acting strangely at the crime scene."

Flack straightened, "Yeah?"

Stella shrugged, "I think we're all just tired." Flack made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat.

"How about you? Are you dealing with this okay?"

A strange expression flickered across her face, "Adam has always been someone special to me. We're not going to let this case go." Her jaw was set and she had a fierce gleam in her eyes.

Flack nodded, "Well, I'm gonna see how Danny is doing. Talk to you later, Stel."

Flack walked down a few corridors. He was fiercely debating on whether he should bring up what he saw to Danny.

If Danny was acting strange was it possible that he saw the same thing? He looked through one of the clear walls and Danny was staring at a computer screen with a bored expression.

It seemed to be processing data and the loading bar was at 45%. Flack walked in and slapped Danny on the back. Danny turned around and held his hand against his heart.

"Geez Don, you nearly gave me a heart attack." Danny complained. Flack smirked.

"A heart attack for just a little slap on the back? You must be getting old."

Danny pulled a face, "Har, Har. What're you doing here?"

"Interrogation was completely useless. Thought I'd come down here and see if there was any good news." Flack sighed and sat on one of the stools.

"Besides the surveillance cam news this case is impossible."

"What about you. Heard you were being weirder than usual at the crime scene."

Danny jerked up, "Who told you that?"

"I have my sources." Flack answered cryptically but was pleased to see Danny seemed a little jumpy on this subject.

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm doing fine. It just was a little unsettling to be in a friend's apartment and see his blood all over the walls."

"Are you sure that's all? I'm pretty sure my source wouldn't have mentioned it if wasn't anything out of the ordinary."

Danny paused for a second and gave Flack a look that probably said "Piss off" but Flack just waited.

After a few beats Danny sighed in surrender, "Do you think it's possible for ghosts or whatever to be real?"

Flack smothered a grin. So he wasn't crazy, "Not until recently."

Danny looked at Flack sharply, "Do you mean you saw it too?"

"The ghost boy?"

"Yeah, said his name was Adam Ross – crazy, huh?"

"Oh, well I didn't ask him his name when I saw him."

Danny rolled his eyes, "Really, Don, you got to be the most socially inept-,"

Flack waved his hand as if to shush him, "Whatever, back on subject. What do you think this means? Are we both going around the bend or is this ghost kid for real?"

Danny shrugged helplessly, "Maybe we should wait it out. See what happens."

Flack nodded in assent.

* * *

Sheldon approached the convenience store that had a neon sign blinking "open" at him. There were scantily clad women hanging around the store and few unsavory characters that lurked in the alley way.

He walked in quickly and saw an overweight man behind the counter. The man was leaned back on a patio chair and reading an inappropriate magazine. He wore a stained wife beater, had slicked back, greasy black hair, beady, dark eyes and thin lips with a scar running down his face.

Sheldon stood, silently waiting for the man too look up. After a few moments of the guy ignoring him Sheldon had enough.

"Hello sir, I'm Sheldon Hawkes, a crime scene investigator and we're investigating the crime scene across the street." The man's eyes flickered up to Sheldon.

"Well, what's that gotta do with me?"

"We saw a security camera out front and we see it as crucial to our investigation to get those tapes."

The man sniffed, "Mike isn't here."

"Excuse me?" Sheldon gave the man a confused expression.

"Mike – he's the one who knows all the camera stuff. I don't know nothin' about running those thingamabobs out there." The man said while scratching his stomach.

"Well maybe you can bring me to where the tapes are being recorded." Sheldon suggested.

The man frowned in annoyance. "Why don't you wait for Mike to get here?"

"When will Mike get here?"

"How the hell should I know? He'll get here when he gets here."

Sheldon smother his frustrated sigh, "We need those tapes immediately. I will search this entire place till I find them."

"Have at it." The man had a challenging look in his eyes. Sheldon lifted his chin and stared the man down.

"Anything that I come across that might be illegal I'll be force to report."

The man sighed and slapped his magazine on the counter. He reached into a drawer and pulled out a silver ring with a couple of keys and threw them at Sheldon.

"It's in the back." He thumbed toward the back of the store. Sheldon didn't ask for any clarification and decided to figure it out himself.

He eventually found the right door and corresponding key and found himself in what seem to be the maintenance closet. There was a bookshelf full of VHS cassettes lined up by date.

Sheldon took the tape for that day and for the day before and after; feeling he'd better be safe than sorry. He put them in a plastic bag and placed them in his messenger bag.

As he turned he nearly fell backwards. A young boy was looking around the closet and then he noticed Sheldon looking at him.

"If I worked here this would be my secret clubhouse." His voice had a tinge of excitement.

"It's not safe to be hanging around here." Sheldon answered feeling uneasy. There was something off about this kid and something vaguely familiar.

The kid scrunched his nose, "Why does everyone say that? I've been on tons of adventures."

"I'm sure this is different." Sheldon answered but the boy kicked the floor with a confused look on his face.

He bit his lip nervously, "Can you tell Mr. Flack, I'm sorry?"

"Oh, was he questioning you?"

"He made me mad. I was just trying to help like Mr. Danny asked but then Mr. Flack told me to go away." The boy huffed in frustration and crossed his arms.

Sheldon was very confused now. Why were Don and Danny not communicating with each other?

"Do you know something about what happened up there?"

The boy looked at him with wide eyes, "Of course I know! I was there but then I left!" His voice got several octaves higher towards the end of the sentence.

"You were there?" Was this kid making this up? How could this be overlooked?!

Suddenly the kid paled, "You don't remember me either?! I thought you liked me."

Sheldon furrowed his eyebrows. He had no idea what this kid was talking about. "I'm sorry, I like you from what I know about you."

The boy suddenly smiled eagerly, "Really?!"

"Yeah, do you think you can help me out? What happened?"

Honestly, Sheldon was afraid of the answer.

The boy's eyes darkened, "That man out there has a secret clubhouse. He and Scarecrow man go to it all the time. This clubhouse would be better though – I don't like their clubhouse. It's scary."

Sheldon felt a shiver run down his spine. He didn't understand what was happening.

The boy looked scared and he went to pat his shoulder but then his hand went straight through the boy. The boy's eyes widened and then he suddenly disappeared.

Sheldon sucked in his breath and dropped his bag. What just happened? He was talking to an illusion this whole time? He looked around and saw nothing that was incriminating. He shook his head – maybe he fell asleep?

Sheldon sighed – he really needed to take a break. Right after he got these tapes back to Stella.

* * *

Stella walked into the AV room to see Flack, Danny, and Lindsay hovered around Hawkes. Hawkes was currently fast forwarding through the tapes.

Everyone looked extremely tired and frayed at the edges.

"After this all of you guys need to go home." Stella ordered. They all looked on the verge of protesting.

"Us being tired isn't helping anyone. We're just going to cause more mistakes."

"We can't just leave this here if we find something." Danny pointed it out. Stella shook her head.

"It can always wait a few more hours. We can't be productive with sleep deprivation."

"I agree." Mac walked into the room.

Danny looked ready to protest once more but was instantly deflated with Mac's arrival.

"Everyone is going home after this. That's an order." He gave Danny a long look and Danny clenched his jaw. Obviously he was not happy with stopping.

Sheldon suddenly straightened, "Look at this. I think we have our caller here." Excitement was barely suppressed in his tone.

The team all gathered in hovering over the screen to see the tape.

A tall, slender woman approached the phone booth. She looked in several directions before dialing. Her long bleached blonde hair cascaded across her face.

It was only a minute before she wiped the handle and looked suspiciously around once more. She hurried across the street and out of view from the camera.

"Rewind that." Mac demanded.

Sheldon started to bring it back.

"Stop. Do facial recognition on her."

Sheldon clicked various buttons until a crosshairs centered on her face and constructed facial recognition points. It started to stream through the database of people.

A few moments later it stopped.

"Brenda Carrington – been in and out of jail for drug abuse, prostitution, and drinking and driving." Stella read off the screen.

"That's not your usual good Samaritan." Lindsay pointed out.

"Maybe she was the one who brought trouble to Adam." Flack replied.

"No, the biggest question is, why was Adam having dinner with drug addict slash prostitute?" Danny crossed his arms. This was so unusual to Adam's behavior.

"Well we can answer those questions when we interview her first thing tomorrow morning." Mac's resolute tone rang across. The looks on the rest of the CSIs' faces showed exactly what the thought of that plan.

As they went to turn and leave Sheldon spoke up, "Wait a second. Do you see that?"

"See what?" Danny hurried back to the monitor.

"That figure right behind the payphone. I think there's someone there."

"Sharpen it." Mac squinted his eyes and leaned forward. Sheldon clicked a few buttons and it sharpened the picture and zoomed in.

Flack, Danny, Mac, and Sheldon all visibly reacted in shock. Stella and Lindsay looked on in confusion.

Danny nudged Flack, "Well it looks like we're not crazy. There's our little phantom."

Sheldon turned his head sharply to the pair, "You mean you've guy's seen it also?"

"'It', Sheldon, it is a he. Be a little more humane." Danny jokingly scolded.

Mac stood there silently studying the small boy in the screen. He was the same one that had approached him in the hospital. What was the purpose of this boy?

Stella mildly frustrated with the enigmatic conversation spoke up, "What is going on? Who is that boy?"

The men looked at each other. They all look very uncomfortable explaining the exact situation they were in.

AN: Okay, stopping it there. Sorry for the excess of typos. I write this during my graveyard shift and my tired eyes don't catch everything. Next chapter Adam is going to show himself to one of the girls and we'll see how helpful a woman can be in this situation. Please review - I'd love to hear your thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

Mac cleared his throat. Danny and Flack looked at each other. Sheldon became suddenly more engrossed in the computer screen.

Stella rose an eyebrow, "Really, who is the boy? This information may be crucial to the case."

Another silence and then suddenly Danny yelled out, "Ow, Montanna, my foot!" Danny started hopping on one foot and Lindsay was smirking.

"Stop keeping information from us. Tell us what's happening."

"Well, quite frankly we don't know what's happening ourselves. That boy has been doin' a disappearing act on all of us. Well at least Danny and me. Didn't know Mac and Sheldon had seen him." Flack said frowning.

"What do you mean "Disappearing act". He ran away from you?" Stella asked incredulously.

"Nope, like poof! Gone! Now you see it now you don't." Danny added with several elaborate hand gestures. Flack smothered a laugh.

Stella rolled her eyes, "Mac do you have a better explanation than these two clowns." Danny and Flack made protesting noises but stopped suddenly when Lindsay looked dangerous again.

"It seems that Adam Ross is still among us but in an unexplainable way." Mac looked uncomfortable trying to explain that Adam's spirit was trying to tell them something. The regular logical and scientific mind was unused to the strangeness of the spiritual realm.

Sheldon, deciding to have mercy on Mac, cut into the conversation. "We believe that Adam Ross' spirit is appearing to us in his eleven year old form."

Lindsay busted out laughing, "You can't possibly be serious?"

"No, he's serious." Danny defended.

"As a heart attack" Flack finished.

"You guys aren't playing around with us?" Stella gave the men a penetrating look.

Sheldon shrugged helplessly and Mac sighed.

"Unfortunately I believe that's the best way it can be explained. Somehow the physical trauma caused him to enter a coma and metaphysically leave his body." Mac explained in the most scientific way he could.

"But wouldn't he be the age he is now – why is he coming to everyone as eleven years old." Lindsay asked.

"Well Adam was always a bit of a kid." Danny hypothesized.

Sheldon shook his head, "He went into a coma for a week when he was eleven. That may be a factor."

Everyone stared at Sheldon curiously.

"I don't know why. I just read his medical file." Sheldon replied sheepishly.

"Are you allowed to do that?" Flack asked.

"Technically no, but there are certain leniencies towards former surgeons of the hospital." Sheldon looked uncomfortable with the question.

"Let's all get some sleep and then we'll discuss Adam when we get back." Mac ordered feeling that the uncomfortable situation had went on long enough. Lindsay still looked skeptical and Stella was being unusually quiet.

They all filtered out leaving Stella with Mac. Stella was deep in thought staring off blankly.

"Are you alright?" Mac questioned.

Stella broke out of her reverie, "None of this makes sense. I'm not just talking about supernatural part of this story. It's everything – no clues add up correctly. Did you get any information from Adam?" She rubbed her neck which ached from stress and general tiredness.

"He seemed more interested on getting home. I would've asked him more if I didn't feel like I'd lost my mind." Mac gave shook his head with a regretful expression.

"I'm sure if he shows up again we'll see if he'll give us any information before he disappears again." Stella reassured him.

"Good, go get some sleep. See you in the morning." Mac said and made a brisk walk out the door.

* * *

Stella shut her door and dropped her keys into the bowl. She gave a deep sigh feeling relieved to be home but also wanting to get out of here as soon as possible.

She quickly walked into the bathroom, undressed and started to shower. After she was done she wrapped a towel around her and walked out into her bedroom.

Stella glanced at her bed and nearly screamed. Adam Ross was sitting on her bed swinging his legs. He looked up sharply at the noise and his eyes widened at the sight of Stella in a towel.

His hands slapped in front of his eyes, "I'm sooooo sorry. I just remembered how to get here and I came." His voice trailed off and he was breathing heavily in panic.

Stella stood their awkwardly for a moment, "Well, I'm going to get dressed. Give me a second."

She stood there a little bit longer. Adam cracked two fingers open and Stella raised an eyebrow.

"Oh!" He jumped off the bed and ran into the adjacent room which happened to be the living room.

Stella dressed and walked into the living room to find little Adam biting his fingernail and staring at some picture frames.

"Adam?" She tentatively called. Adam jumped and turned around.

She made a placating gesture with her hand, "It's okay. I'm not angry." She said and gave him a smile.

Adam took a large breath and seemed to relax. He looked at her and smiled goofily.

"You're pretty."

Stella just laughed. Of course Adam's crush would transfer to his eleven year old self.

"Thank you." She said simply and then went to make some coffee, "Is there a reason you're here?" Stella knew an opportunity when she saw one.

She pulled a filter and placed it in the machine.

"Everywhere I go is scary." His voice was quiet.

"You feel safe here?" Stella filled in the blanks. She pressed the button to start the machine and turned to see him. He was propped on a dining room chair. He gave her a shy nod.

"It's alright. I don't mind the company."

"So you remember me." He said his voice going a little high with the question. Stella laughed.

"Of course I remember you. How could I forget you?"

"Everyone else forgot me." He whispered – his eyes filling with tears. Stella rushed to the rescue.

"Hey, it's alright. They were just confused. They were expecting someone much older."

"Oh, well I can't help it." He said pouting a little.

Stella tilted her head, "What do you mean."

"This is my safe place when things get scary. I go here when nothing bad happened. Mr. Keller said it's not good to go here there, but s'not my fault." He said furrowing his eyebrows.

Stella couldn't help but think his expression was adorable. "Who's Mr. Keller?"

"My Psychiatrist." He said slowly. The words were a bit hard to get out. Stella looked surprised. She had no idea Adam saw or was seeing a psychiatrist.

"You call it going to your safe place. Do you know what Mr. Keller called this?" She asked wondering if there was a way to get the older Adam to come out.

Adam bit his lip and looked up, "Mmmm, I think it was dis-di, dis-so-cia-tive personality. Somthin' like that." He said shrugging.

Stella shook her head. That type of mental ailment could only be caused by severe trauma. Her heart ached to think of what caused this for someone as sweet as Adam.

"Well I'm glad you're here. You can stay as long as you want." Stella said deciding it was best to change the subject. Adam beamed.

"Really?! You're the nicest person in the whole wide world." He exclaimed.

Stella chuckled and shook her head. If Adam was here all the time he'd be more accessible. She needed sleep before she could coherently question him.

"Well, I'm going to get some sleep. Why don't you hang out and I'll talk to you in the morning."

Adam nodded and started at her with another goofy smile. Stella sighed. Having a little boy, in spirit form, who has a crush on you may work to her advantage but it was awkward trying to go to sleep with that thought.

* * *

Danny was waiting impatiently at the precinct.

He had slept 5 hours and then rushed out to meet Flack so they could go question their new suspect. They had put an APB on her before they had gone home for the night. Luckily a police officer had spotted her an hour ago and she had entered a house and had not left it yet.

Danny was anxious to get to her but Flack was currently taking his time filling the paperwork out.

Danny was tapping his hands on the table until suddenly a hand slapped down on them.

Danny cried out and cradled his hand to his chest.

"I swear Messer if you don't sit down and shut up I'll break it next time." Flack grumbled and went back to filling out a report.

"I think you already did." He said resentfully as he took a seat next to Flack's desk.

"We can't just barge in and question her. I have to fill this out." He muttered as he painstakingly filled out the form.

"You write too slowly. You should let me write it."

Flack glared at him, "I write legibly not slow. If I gave you this, it would look like a Tasmanian devil wrote it."

"My handwriting isn't that bad." Danny scoffed.

"Do you want me to bring Mac on the phone? I'm sure he can attest to it."

Danny was silent at that.

"Now that we have that settled. Let me finish."

A few moments later Flack stood up and picked up the paper. He folded it in half and put it in his jacket pocket.

"Ok, let's go."

Danny hopped up, "Finally!" He said in an overdramatic tone.

* * *

They approached the apartment building. It wasn't a horrible part of town but it wasn't the best. Weeds were overtaking the front porch and the building has several boarded windows.

Kids were out front playing and giggling. Flack parked and waved at the police officer across the way. Danny got out and Flack followed. They entered the building and scanned the mailboxes.

Danny tapped one of the boxes, "L. Carrington. This one is probably it. Apt. number 506."

They hurriedly took the stairs to the 5th floor and located the appropriate door with chipped gold numbers on it. Flack knocked on the door and a few moments later and elderly woman opened the door.

She gave them a kind smile, "How may I help you?"

Flack hesitated, "We're from the NYPD, and we're looking for a Brenda Carrington."

The woman sighed, "Oh what has she gotten herself into now?"

"Is she here ma'am? We really need to speak with her." Danny asked.

"Oh yes, she's here. We're having breakfast. Would you like some coffee?" The woman asked while scuffling from the door and opening it.

Flack shook his head while Danny nodded, "Sure." Flack looked at Danny and Danny shrugged as if to say "she offered."

"Oh, you boys are sweet. Brenda's in the dining room over there." The woman chuckled and walked to the kitchen.

Danny and Flack approached the dining room and were shocked to see her and a two year old boy sitting next to her.

"Brenda Carrington?" Danny asked.

Brenda nodded looking nervous. The little boy threw cheerios on the ground and giggled.

Danny and Flack pulled out their badges, "We're from the NYPD and we have some questions."

Brenda sighed, "I knew this would come back on me. This is about that 911 call. I swear I didn't do anything." She pleaded.

"We're not accusing you of anything. We just have a few questions." Flack said. The older woman came in.

"Have a seat, boys. You don't need to stand." She gave Danny a cup of coffee and gestured for them to sit down. They both took a seat.

"Brenda we have a video showing that you called 911 early in the morning a few days ago. It was regarding an attack on room 301B in the Glacier Apartment complex on 5th street. Is this correct?" Flack inquired.

Brenda shifted uncomfortably. The young boy got off his chair and started running around the table.

"Yes, sir."

"Were you aware of what was going on in the apartment?" Danny asked but his eyes followed the hyper boy.

"Not fully sir. Adam told me to leave through the fire escape when the men started banging on the door."

The boy started playing with Flack's shoelaces. Pulling on them and tying them over and over. Danny smothered a laugh. Flack tried to pull his shoe away while continuing his interrogation.

"What were you doing with Adam?" Danny asked. He was most curious on this fact. Why would Adam be with a convicted felon?

"We were having dinner. It was completely innocent." She protested.

"Ma'am what is your relationship to Adam Ross?" Danny jolted at this question and looked at Flack. What was Flack implying? Don was just staring suspiciously at the little boy currently ruining his shoelaces.

"Well, Adam is my boyfriend." She said simply. Danny nearly dropped his coffee.

* * *

A/N: Yes, I' ending it here. Partly, because I need to go to bed and partly from here the story kind of takes off. haha


	4. Chapter 4

You're his girlfriend?" Was Danny's incredulous reply. He had stood up with an expression caught in between outrage and disbelief.

"I can see it." Flack commented and Danny looked sharply at Flack. Danny, being much more familiar with Adam, gave way to a more personal reaction.

Flack had less knowledge of the young lab rat and gave Danny a quirk of the eyebrow to his incensed reaction.

"You honestly believe this girl? Adam wouldn't date this-," He paused searching for the correct words.

"Worthless, Drug addict whore?" Brenda cut in with a wry smile.

"Brenda!" Her mother exclaimed.

She raised her hands in a surrendering gesture, "Lighten up, Mom. We know it's true. I don't know what Adam sees in me. He's a great guy, you know. I can hardly believe it myself."

"You're not too hard on the eyes." Flack commiserated. Danny continued to sputter indignantly. He could not believe this conversation was happening.

"Thanks." Brenda blushed. It wasn't everyday a woman got complimented by a handsome detective.

"How long have you been seeing Adam?" Flack pursued on. Danny scoffed in disgust and stormed out of the room. He had enough of this ridiculous conversation. There was no way Adam was dating _her_.

"Uh." She stammered hesitantly as she watched Danny leave. Flack waved him off.

"Forget about him. Just answer the questions"

"Well we met about 2 months ago but we've been officially together for about a month." She replied with a faraway smile on her face.

"Have you noticed any strange behavior about Adam? Any strange people around his apartment?"

"Adam was a little jumpy the past few days." She paused and gave him a dry smile, "Well more jumpy than usual. I asked him what was wrong but he wouldn't tell me. And strange people – have you seen his apartment complex?"

Flack nodded with an understanding expression, "Yeah – there's quite a few unsavory characters. Did you know if any of them had a grudge with Adam?"

She shook her head, "Not that I know of." Then her eyes lit up, "Oh there's a convenience store owner across the street. We stopped by there once to get some-," She blushed and gestured vaguely, "Well anyways, the guy seemed pissed with Adam. Said he owed him some money and that he better make good on it or something might happen."

Flack leaned forward, "What did Adam say?"

"Adam looked scared but he told him he'll pay him back next week. That was like two weeks ago. I didn't think much of it." She shrugged.

"Did Adam mention any money problems?" Flack mentally hesitated on this question feeling this might pass personal boundaries.

She laughed incredulously, "Of course, in this economy, who hasn't? I mean, Adam just got the 15% pay cut a couple months ago in replacement of losing his job altogether. He's just trying to make ends meet."

She attempted to refrain from giving Flack an accusing stare. She was aware they worked in some vicinity but that didn't mean he had any effect on Adam's pay.

Flack regretted asking the question. He felt that he was intruding on his coworker's personal life. He stood up quickly and snapped his notepad closed.

He attempted to step forward and stumbled. He looked down and frowned to see his shoelaces tied in a knot. The culprit, stood across the room, and giggled.

"Matthew!" Brenda exclaimed, "I'm very sorry, sir. He's a bit of a devil."

Flack bent down and started untying the laces, "It's alright. I got a few nieces and nephews that can give that kid a run for his money

Stella started to hear the annoying ring of her alarm sounding off over and over. She slapped her hand across it and fumbled to turn it off. When she finally got it to turn off, she slid out of her bed and walked out to the kitchen to start coffee.

She nearly jumped when she saw Adam sitting patiently at the dining room table. She placed her hand on her heart, "Jesus! You startled me." Adam cocked his head to the side.

"Am I scary?"

Stella gave him a warm smile, "No I just didn't expect you to be there."

"Oh." He hopped off the chair and followed her to watch her pour some coffee.

"Can I have some?" He asked, Stella looked at the translucent figure. She knew he would not be able to drink coffee much less hold a cup.

"Ummm, not right now sweetie, you're too young for coffee." She trailed off in her lie. Suddenly there was a loud rap on her door and she jumped. Adam looked up to her,

"Don't worry, I got scared too, this time." He said, looking triumphant. Stella couldn't help but give a smothered laugh and headed to the door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

The door was on its third series of knocks when she finally got to unlocking and opening it.

In the doorway, she saw Mac there, holding a bag of bagels.

"You come bearing gifts, to what do I owe this pleasure." Stella asked, knowing full well what it was about.

"I'm here for Adam, you texted me last night that he was here."

"Still is." She corrected. Mac peaked in to see the boy half hiding behind the couch. He appeared to be frightened by the new presence.

They both walked in and Stella crouched down by the couch, "Come on, Adam, you know Mac – and He remembers you."

"He does?" A higher pitched version of Adam's voice echoed through the apartment. Mac gently placed the bag on the counter and waited for the boy to come out. It wasn't long for Adam to come out and stare apprehensively at the head of the New York crime lab.

"Hi, Sir." The boy toed the ground, and looked for approval from Stella. Stella gave him an encouraging smile.

"Hey Adam, Do you want to sit down with Stella and I for a moment." He ignored the pointed stare from Stella. He didn't have time to play games with Adam, they needed this information quickly.

Adam nodded slowly with large eyes, "We can sit over there." He said pointing to the couch. Mac moved over to the couch and sat down in agreement. Adam walked much slower, and sat at the edge of the cushion.

"Relax, you're not in trouble." Mac said in what he hopes was a soothing tone. Adam continued to glance at Stella for reassurance but gave a nod to Mac, without relaxing.

"I have a few questions about the night you got hurt." Mac stumbled over his words feeling as if he should have thought more about what he would say before conducting an interview with an apparition.

"I don't wanna talk about that." Adam said in a quiet voice looking down, he twisted his finger nervously. He sensed Stella draw closer.

"Sweetie, we really need something, any information would help." Stella tried to catch his eye but the boy refused to look up.

"I c-cant." His voice cracked, Stella looked at Mac and shook her head. Mac retained his emotionless face

"How about not that night, Flack told me that you owed some money to a local store owner?"

Adam look up, "I um, broke – well the window got broke." Mac knew he was lying – but he couldn't figure about what.

"Are you sure that's what happened, I think it didn't really go that way." Mac said, his eyes were narrowed looking straight at the lab tech. He purposefully avoided Stella's gaze, knowing full well that she didn't like his prodding.

Adam took a deep breath, "I didn't break the window. The guys were angry bout sumth'n and they broke the window."

"Do you know who they were, sweetie." Stella beat Mac to the question.

There was a hesitant pause, "No." He replied.

Was he always this bad at lying? Mac thought quietly to himself.

"It's really important that you be honest here." Mac's voice was much sterner than before and a flash of fear crossed Adam's eyes.

"I-I, think they might be some people who live nearby. I don't really fit in there." He squirmed a little.

"Was it someone in your apartment?" Mac inquired.

"I really shouldn't be talking about this!" Adam exclaimed looking frantic. He disappeared within seconds of saying that. Stella groaned in frustration.

"Mac! You shouldn't have pushed so hard."

"I needed answers." Mac muttered in self defense.

"Yes, now we'll have to wait for him to decide to show up again before we can get any more."

Mac shrugged and pulled his phone out, "Hey Flack, interview the convenience store owner. Looks like Adam had a bad visit and someone broke the store window."

It took 20 minutes for Flack to get a text back from Mac about the state of affairs with Adam. He put his phone back in his pocket, and finished up the last of the paperwork in his car. He wrote all the details of the interesting interview with Brenda. He left out the part about Danny, it wasn't relevant.

Speaking of Danny, he was currently leant against a brick wall looking angry. He was smoking a cigarette that he bummed off of someone.

Danny hadn't smoked in ages; Lindsay would kill him if she saw this. The stress was taking a toll on his friend. Flack stuck his paperwork in a neatly organized glove box, exited the car and walked over to Danny.

"C'mon, you don't need that." Flack reassured. Danny sighed and threw it to the ground and snubbed it with his foot.

"Not really sure what I need, this isn't going how it should. Adam, and all his, his girl." He pulled a face.

Flack shook his head, "You know that isn't what's really bothering you." Danny looked up, squinting his eyes without answering.

"What's next?"

Flack hesitated at the quick change of subject but decided to go with it, "Mac wants us to go to the convenience store. Interview the owner."

"More than a broken window?" Danny half questioned, knowing the answer.

Flack just nodded and they crossed the street.

They both entered the convenience store and Flack pulled back a little by the derelict conditions. The floors were scuffed and sticky with dirt. There were fly buzzing around the place, the shelves in a relative disarray. It seemed as if the place was ransacked but the man at the counter did not appear all too concerned.

As they approached him he eyed them with suspicion, recognizing that they were police officers. Danny hung his thumbs on his belt, brazenly showing his badge, and Flack move to full height which can be very intimidating.

"We have a few questions for you, mister," He paused glancing at his hurried scrawl in his notebook, "Jackson." He finished looking up the heavy set slob.

The man's eyes seemed to be small and beady as he struggled to stand, "Yeah, well – I'm getting real tired of answerin' questions. I mean, it's just a stupid kid that died or something, right? I got nothin' to do with that."

"He isn't dead." Danny ground out. His shoulders were tense and veins in his neck were throbbing. Flack hoped that Danny wouldn't react on that anger. He had been very volatile lately.

The man smacked his lips a couple times, digesting the information, "Well, kid owes me money. Pass that on, will ya?"

Danny stepped forward but Flack's hand shot out and steadied his partner, "That's what we were coming down here for. We wanted to know why he owed you money."

"Broke my window, got nothing to do with him being roughed up and all." The man replied.

Flack exhaled sharply, "Yes, but did you see him break your window?"

"No, but he admitted to it." He shrugged, his large shoulders rolled slowly. Danny looked at him as if he was one of the flies languishing on the counter.

"We received some information that there were a few men that beat him up and then broke the window, do you remember anyone else there?"

"Look here, I got my answer on who broke my window, I don't go sticking my nose into other stuff. That's dangerous in this neighborhood." The man was rather vehement, spit flung out of his mouth. Flack scrunched up his nose, disgusted.

"You've got a camera, you must've seen the security tape." Flack asked impatiently.

"No, that stuff isn't mine."

"What d'ya mean?" Danny questioned.

"Here I'll give you one piece of information, and y'all leave me alone. These parts are run by some nasty fellows. Got a lot of people under their control, by money or other things." He trailed off a bit, "They keep watch on a lot of them with that camera out there, they leave me alone because I let them put it there. I don't go asking questions, and I don't go runnin' to the cops. So you guys should do me a favor and leave."

Danny looked ready to ask another question but Flack snapped his notebook shut, "Thank you for your cooperation Mr. Jackson." With that they both left the store.

"Danny, I know what you're going to say but I don't think there's anything else left to ask him."

"I know, I still wanna take him down a few pegs." Danny grumbled, looking like he really need a bad guy to roughly arrest and accidentally slam against a door as he threw them in the back of a police car.

Flack chuckled, "We'll get someone who deserves that, but we got some good information. Those videos recordings are run by that Mike Trager guy. Looks like they might give us a few answers, I wonder how far Hawkes is on those videos."

"And maybe we can take Mike in?" Danny said perking up at the thought of taking in someone.

Flack laughed and entered the car and they drove off to the labs.

AN: Eh, yeah – I know not my best. I had an outline and everything for this but I got a little bit tired of the story and now I feel like I can get back with it, it doesn't feel like a chore to write and I think it will be exciting to get back into it again. Thank you for reading. Please review, reviews always help me want to write more.


	5. Chapter 5

"I swear, if that guy pees in the street one more time…." She trailed off ominously. After watching several months' worth of footage, they had gotten nowhere.

"Maybe you should take a break?" Sheldon suggested hitting pause on the video with the remote control. Lindsay jumped up, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She slowly hummed an exhale.

Seeing Hawke's curious look she gave a half smile, "Yoga, got into it when I was pregnant."

"Does it help?" He asked, tilting his head skeptically.

"I'd like to think so," She bent toward the monitor, "Adam rarely goes out of his apartment, did you notice that? Over 5 months we've only caught him on camera, how many times?"

"Maybe 15-16 times." They start the tape again; it was slowed since Adam was in the shot. He seemed jumpy or agitated. Wearing a dark hoodie, hunched – it was hard to tell it was him. It was only because they knew his gait.

He walked across the street, entered the convenience store – it was several minutes passed and he was darting out, holding several boxes of unhealthy hostess snacks and box of red bull. Lindsay couldn't help but smile, it was comforting to see someone who was so consistent but she felt a pang of loss thinking about Adam.

"I think it's a wonder of the world on how Adam isn't 500 pounds." Hawkes commented.

Lindsay laughed but sobered quickly, "Why aren't we getting any of the footage about the window, it should have happened by now?"

Hawkes twirled a pen around his finger, deep in thought, "I don't know – and you notice there are a lot of gaps in some of these tapes."

"Did you miss any?"

Hawkes shook his head, "No, I'm sure I grabbed them all." Neat stacks of already screened tapes were lined up on a metal shelf. Though there were many there it did not account for the sizable amount still in the trash bags.

Lindsay picked one up and dug through the bag, looking for the next date. She flipped a few over but then suddenly noticed something. They were all labeled nearly the same way except for a few. She pulled out the tape and saw that it an innocuous label that said "Birthday party".

"Something tells me there isn't any cake in this video." She remarked and handed it over to Hawkes. Hawkes looked at the bold sharpie lettering and smiled.

He popped the previous tape from the VCR and inserted the new one. The fast forwarded through some white noise, and Lindsay lightly smacked Hawkes arm and pointed at the screen.

"There, there! Stop."

The tape slowed to see Adam approaching the store; his hands were shoved deep in his pockets. Shivering from the chilly air, it was hard to see when the snow kept on whizzing in front of the camera.

Right when he set foot on the pavement, four men materialized from the alleyway. Adam took a step back, holding his hands up. It was hard to discern their faces, two of them wore masks. One was holding a baseball bat.

The tallest one out of the group stepped forward pushing Adam and speaking very emphatically. Adam shook his head as if refusing something. The man pulled a bag out of his pocket and shoved it into Adam's hands. Adam again shook his head attempting to give it back to the man.

He accidentally dropped it and it poured on to the wet floor. Adam froze like a deer caught in headlights. One of them punched him in the face and he fell to the ground. He took a few hits to the stomach and back before the beating subsided. Apparently the taller one raised his hands to stop it. His lackey immediately listened. The one with the base ball bat slammed it into the window. It shattered to the floor.

They quickly ran off, leaving Adam still huddled on the ground. Barry Jackson stormed out of his store and started yelling at Adam. Adam shakily stood up, obviously still disoriented. He nodded a couple times and pulled out his wallet. He pulled all the cash from his wallet and gave it to the man.

Barry seemed to calm down but pointed dangerously at the young lab tech. Adam hung his head and waved it off. They separated, and Adam dejectedly walked back to his apartment. They paused the video.

"I'm a CSI, how did I not know something was wrong?" Lindsay muttered her eyes red-rimmed with unshed tears.

"I'm a doctor; I should have seen signs of injuries." Hawkes felt disgusted, these men were monsters. Adam took all this, for what reason?

"Why didn't he say something?" Lindsay's brow furrowed. He phone rang breaking her out of her contemplation. She gave Hawkes an apologetic look and took her phone out to the hallway.

"Hi Danny." She answered hoping to smother the emotions that she felt just a few minutes before. Danny thankfully was too enraged to notice.

He was ranting heavily about Brenda, "I mean can you believe it. She's got a rap sheet as long as the Brooklyn Bridge and she goes seducing Adam."

"They may really love each other."

Danny scoffed, "Not likely. Adam is a goody two shoes, this girl is up to no good. I don't trust her."

"Danny, you love your brother don't you?"

"Of course, what the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, as far as I know – he wasn't perfect. But he still had qualities that you loved."

There was a tense silence; Lindsay could hear him breathing on the other end.

"Don't compare my brother to that girl, I bet you anything that she the root of all this." He grumbled.

Lindsay sighed, he could be so damn stubborn, "Danny, if you go speaking your mind like this around Adam, you could really hurt the guy if he really loves her. You know how much he respects your opinion."

"Yeah, and my opinion is dump the trash, he could do way better."

Lindsay briefly knocked the phone against her forehead, "Look, I know that you really care for Adam, and you don't want him to get hurt anymore, but is this really about Brenda?"

There was a long silence, "I don't know." He said quietly, his voice shaking a little.

"Danny." She said softly – feeling her heart break.

"Listen, I gotta go. See you at home. Love you." He said quickly.

"Love you." She managed to throw out before he hung up. She looked up at the ceiling, the gray specks spattered about like stars. She would get to the bottom of this. Danny needed to speak honestly about how these problems with Adam are affecting him. Otherwise he might go postal on a complete stranger. Angry Danny is a reckless Danny; everyone knew that, especially Lindsay.

Flack seemed to know all too well, he eyed his friend appraisingly, "You sure this is a good idea? I don't think you should be interrogating this guy with me."

Danny had look of practiced nonchalance, as he clapped his hands, "Yeah, don't worry about me."

Flack couldn't help it, he knew what it look like when someone was teetering on the edge. He gave Danny a long look, feeling his impatience he stopped.

"Fine, but please keep it together. " Flack opened the door to see Mike Trager sitting with his hands crossed over his chest.

He was wiry, with long legs and brown spiked hair. His lean body looked almost complete devoid of muscle. He had a light silver frame for the glasses that leaned at the tip of his nose. He was known to periodically push them up. His eyes were a murky brown. The sullen look on his face made him look like he was a teenager instead of his late twenties.

He was either hopped up on something or was extremely nervous, his leg bounced up and down like a jackhammer.

"He looks like a killer to you Danny?" Flack questioned in a loud voice. Danny cracked a smiled, "I don' know, looks a little puny." He answers in a loud voice.

Mike frown grew deeper, and slouched a little further in the hard metal seat, "Just cut to the chase." He snapped.

Flack shook his head, "We got some people pointing their finger at you, saying you're the bad guy."

Danny's eyes glinted, "We can pin stuff on you that'll keep you locked up for a long time."

Mike sputtered, "Like Hell you do! I didn't do anything wrong."

Flack raised an eyebrow and leaned back on his chair, "Is that so? Barry Jackson seems to think differently."

Mike paled, "He didn't say anything." He said calling their bluff. Danny slapped down a few surveillance photos of Adam being beaten up by four guys.

"Your equipment recorded this. Barry gave it to us." Danny replied ominously. Mike nervously itched his arms, whenever he felt nervous it was like bugs crawling all over his skin. He was told that it was a strange manifestation of an anxiety attack.

"So what, I don't even watch those videos. They're just out there for security."

Danny pointed directly at a marked figure holding the baseball bat, "This guys seems to match your height and build."

"Or lack of build." Flack quipped.

Mike's face turned a deep shade of red as he continued to itch his arms with renewed vigor. Flack and Danny watched on with disgust.

"That doesn't prove anything." He said in an almost questioning tone.

"Those shoes look like the ones you're wearing now." The observant CSI pointed out, "Maybe we can test them in a lab." He said knowing full well they wouldn't be able to do anything with that. Mike didn't know that.

The nerdy man started itching his arms so hard that he began to draw blood, flack grabbed his hand, "Do we need to restrain you?" Mike suddenly broke down.

"Alright, alright – I'll tell you what I know but I need to be promised full immunity."

"We'll see if the information warrants it." Flack answered cautiously. Mike looked hesitant but began.

"I work for Jack Miller; He's kind of the big shot of the community." Mike bit his lip, "He wanted more control of the area, so he decided that we – uh keep a watch out via camera. It wasn't my idea."

"Stop defending yourself and get on with it." Danny demanded.

"Uh- right, we started catching a-a lot of trouble with one of the tenants. Adam, he wasn't easy to control. He didn't take any of our bribes."

Danny muttered something angrily but Flack gave him a look. Mike started once more, "Anyways, Jack felt if one guy didn't follow the rules, the rest wouldn't. He asked a group of us to scare him. We didn't intend to do much damage."

He gave them the most apologetic look that he could muster, but the stony faced cops gave him no reassurance, "So we broke the window, just to get the message through."

"What message was that?" Flack asked.

"I don't know, that ball is in Jack's court." Mike muttered. Flack frowned and got up. He jerked the door open and dragged a glaring Danny out.

"What about our deal?" Mike yelled out.

"We're working on it." Flack yelled back in a tone that did not recommend any trust.

"We're not done in there." Danny burst out when the door was closed to the room. Flack just continued to walk to his desk.

"He's hiding something; we need to ride him a little longer to get it out!" Danny waved his hand with anger.

Flack sighed, "He's not going to be able to give us all the information we need. Jack will. I don't feel like giving that piece of scum immunity. We're better of interrogating the top." Flack reasoned.

Danny huffed but acquiesced, "So what's next? Bring him in?"

"No it's late, we'll do it tomorrow. You need to get some rest."

Danny pulled a face, "The last think I feel like doing is sleeping. I want to pay this Jack guy a visit."

"Once I get the paperwork in we'll do it first thing in the morning."

Danny groaned, "You and your paperwork!"

AN: A little over halfway through the story. Hopefully I can keep a steady pace on this one. Please review, it really makes my day. (Thanks Frozen Heart for you always thoughtful reviews)


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